'Spider-Man' Composers Bono, The Edge Celebrate Record-Breaking Grosses

NEW YORK – While U2’s Bono and the Edge remained conspicuously silent through the long weeks of troubled previews, frequent injuries and delayed opening dates that plagued the show, the composers of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark are happy to weigh in now that the $75 million production has found its feet.

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“What a fantastic bit of news to kick off 2012,” commented Bono and the Edge in a statement on the production’s history-making box office record, set during the week ending Jan. 1.

“It just goes to show that you can’t keep a good superhero down," continued the composers. "We are raising our glasses to our indefatigable cast and crew, and the theatre-goers who watch them every night. Broadway is a very special place, we love being a small part of it.”

Spider-Man grossed $2,941,794 during the 9-performance holiday week, setting a new single-week record and beating nearest rival Wicked by $200,000.

Now that the show has gained a commercial foothold and is regularly raking in weekly grosses of $1.5 million or more, the theater industry is anxiously following the legal dispute of ousted director and co-creator Julie Taymor, who is suing for unpaid royalties.

Given that the Tony Awards nominating committee has ruled to consider Taymor the production’s official director, and not her replacement Philip William McKinley, pundits also will be awaiting the nominations announcement in early May to see if Taymor is vindicated.